


Nipping at His Nose

by Malkuthe



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-31
Updated: 2015-03-31
Packaged: 2018-03-20 12:29:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3650367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Malkuthe/pseuds/Malkuthe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In an alternate reality, where a completely different set of demigods took on the roles and burdens of the demigods that we've come to know and love in the Percy Jackson universe, Nico di Angelo is an eight-year-old boy, born into the tenuous peace that has come after the two great wars against the Titans and the Giants. This is a brief story of how a young Will Solace, at nine years old, still somehow has the ability to completely fluster Nico.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nipping at His Nose

**Author's Note:**

> A brief preface: This is an AU where basically, everything that happened to Nico, Percy, Jason, Will, Leo, et cetera, happened to a completely different set of demigods. In this AU, all of the characters we know and love are born _after_ the time of the great prophecies. They're free, mostly, of their burdens, and they're given a chance to grow up and have normal demigod lives.
> 
> This is a story of our characters pure and unadulterated by the terrors of war. 
> 
> **DISCLAIMER** : All characters involved in the story except for Blake Sullivan and Aaron Terumi do not belong to me, but instead belong to Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson series.

Nico di Angelo was born after the two great wars. The second Titanomachy and the second Gigantomachy. He was born after Theopolis became the home of the remaining gods after Olympus itself became silent and impenetrable.

Nico di Angelo was born and grew up in a time of unprecedented peace and prosperity, the likes of which the demigods of Greece and Rome had not known in a very long time. There was a reason he should not have been as brooding as he was. Nevertheless, this was the truth of the eight-year-old son of Hades.

Nico was still very young. Eight years old. Almost nine, but not quite. He also happened to be a very bitter eight-year-old. Only a few weeks ago, his only full-sister Bianca had decided to join the Hunters of Artemis even if the goddess herself was still missing.

The Hades cabin was awfully empty, now that Bianca was gone. She often teased Nico, but Nico liked it. Hades was more than happy to be with just Persephone and Maria di Angelo, Nico’s mother. As far as Nico was aware, his dad didn’t have any plans to give him any little brothers or sisters any time soon.

So much had changed since the time of Olympus. Here, in the mortal world, the gods found that they had to play by the mortal rules. In Theopolis, they were just ordinary citizens, no greater than the demigods so long as they remained there.

Though they were loathe to admit it, most of the gods actually wanted to stay. Zeus had ruled over them with an iron fist for so long and barred them from their children that they were glad to just bond with their kids like normal families. They were happy to be able to spend time with their offspring without fear of retribution from the King of Olympus.

Nico’s case, however, was a little bit different. All that Hades had received, in terms of housing, was a tiny apartment in the heart of Theopolis. It had all been well and good back when Bianca had been just a baby and only Maria had been living in the apartment.

However, when Persephone and Maria managed to put aside their differences and become friends, and, unbeknownst to Nico, lovers, Persephone had insisted that they move in together. Hades, of course, was dragged rather unwillingly from his palace in the Underworld.

Persephone and Maria agreed on one thing above all: the underworld simply wouldn’t do for any future children. With Demeter involved, the apartment was simply too cramped for everyone. Nico had to live at camp while his dad waited on the manor that had been commissioned to be finished.

Nico didn’t really mind as long as he got to see his mom every day. He did. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Hades insisted on eating at the finest establishments. Well, he hadn’t really minded until Bianca went away.

Nico was sitting on his bed, glaring at the Artemis cabin, angry at the Hunters for having taken away his sister, when he felt a familiar, large and calloused hand tousle his hair. He hadn’t even heard the door opening!

Nico turned where he sat and looked up at his big brother. Blake Sullivan. Son of Hades. Hero of Olympus. Most of all, beloved big bro of Nico di Angelo. They were half-brothers, yes, but Nico didn’t care. He loved Blake just as much as he loved Bianca. “You remind me so much of myself when I was young,” said Blake, settling down on the bed beside Nico.

While Nico was blessed with having been born after the wars, Blake wasn’t. He was nineteen. Significantly older than that if one counted the time he spent at the Lotus Casino, but that was irrelevant. What was important was that Blake had lived through both wars and lost many people he loved.

Thankfully, Blake had come out of the war whole. He was happy now. He had a boyfriend now. A son of Apollo. Hades hadn’t approved at first, but eventually, the old man saw the light, in a manner of speaking.

Blake had been about to leave the Hades cabin and move in with his boyfriend Aaron at Aaron’s apartment, but then Bianca had left with the Hunters, leaving Nico mostly alone in the Hades cabin.

When Blake had expressed his concerns to Hades, he found that his father was as uncomfortable with the idea of leaving the eight-year-old to live on his own. Blake decided, then and there, to postpone the move and stay with Nico. At least until the house was finished.

In the years leading up to the great wars, Blake had not only lost his mother, he’d lost his own sister, too. With a sympathetic smile, Blake picked Nico up from the bed and placed the sulking eight-year-old squarely on his lap. “I want Bianca back,” said Nico, pouting as he wrapped his little arms around Blake’s torso.

“I know,” said Blake, trying to hold back the tears that formed in his eyes. It was difficult to be reminded of what he’d lost. He loved his little brother a lot, and he wanted nothing more than for Nico to live a happy life. It was difficult to see history repeating itself. “She’ll come back soon, little man,” he said, hugging Nico close, “She’ll come back. She loves you.”

“But I want her here _now_ , Blake!” Nico said. The eight-year-old was biting his lip, trying his best not to cry. It had only been a couple of weeks, but he already missed Bianca a lot. It felt like it had been forever since he saw his sister last. His mom and dad came by every day to check up on him and take him out to have food, but it wasn’t the same without Bianca. “I don’t want her to be a hunter!” he said, pouting as much as he could.

Blake chuckled, earning him a glare from Nico. “But that’s her choice, little man, it’s not yours,” said Blake. He ruffled Nico’s hair again. “If joining the hunters is what makes her happy, why would you want her to not join the hunters? Don’t you want Bianca to be happy?”

“Well…” Nico looked up at Blake with wide, tear-filled eyes. He was much too young to understand everything that was going on. He was unhappy because Bianca wasn’t there, but he didn’t want Bianca to be unhappy, too.

“I want her to be happy with me!” said Nico, clutching fistfuls of Blake’s shirt in his hands and burying his face in the fabric. “I know!” he said, suddenly brightening as though the idea he’d just had was the best idea he’d ever come up with. “I’m going to ask Bianca if I can be a Hunter, too!” he said.

“Now, now,” said Blake, unable to help but chuckle as he patted Nico’s back. “We’ve already talked about this, little man,” he said; “Do you remember the rules? Only girls can become hunters. And even if you were allowed to become a hunter, what about me Nico? Are you going to leave me behind?”

Blake tried to put on his best pouty face. Aaron said he had a very good one, but Nico just frowned at him. “Are you really going to leave your big brother _all alone_ here?” He said, putting on his most dramatic tone.

Nico frowned even more. Blake decided to pull out his trump card. He poked a finger at Nico’s stomach and said, “What about your new friend? What was his name? Oh yes, Will, wasn’t it?” Nico immediately stopped squirming from his poking. “Do you want to leave him alone, too?”

“B-bu—” Nico blushed a couple of shades of red. He thumped his fist against Blake’s chest. “He’s not my friend!” he shouted as he buried his face deeper into Blake’s shirt. Blake laughed. “It’s not fair, Blake. I want to be with Bianca…” Blake shook his head sadly. He could understand where Nico was coming from, but there was nothing that could be done about it. “I want Bianca back…”

Blake could hear in Nico’s voice that the little guy was about to cry. “Now, now, Nico,” he said, tilting Nico’s head up. He smiled at his little brother. “I promise, Bianca is going to come back often, and you’ll get to be with her before you know it!”

Nico looked up at Blake with wide, shining eyes. “You promise?” he said, shooting a sceptical glare his big brother. Blake chuckled for a moment before solemnly nodding his head. “Oh, okay then,” said Nico, somewhat reluctant to believe Blake, but willing to trust his older brother.

“Now come on,” said Blake with a grin as he set Nico back down on the bed and stood up. He leaned over his knees and brushed his nose against Nico’s. “Let’s get you dressed and let’s go outside. I know how much you love playing in the snow.”

Nico tried his damnedest to scowl at Blake, but Blake could see the smile that was flirting with the little guy’s lips. Blake had also seen the way that Nico’s eyes had considerably brightened at the mere suggestion of going outside.

“That’s my little man,” said Blake, smiling as finally the smile broke through Nico’s attempt at looking grumpy. He walked over to the nearest dresser and rummaged in it for a bit. “Here are your gloves!” he said, shaking them before tossing them in Nico’s direction.

“Make sure those fingers of yours stay warm, okay?” said Blake. Nico couldn’t help but giggle when the gloves hit him in the face and he fell over.

\----------

Blake was holding Nico’s hands as the eight-year-old stared wide-eyed at all the snow. He’d forgotten that Nico hadn’t been out of the cabin since yesterday, when he snow was falling in absolute droves. Hades, Maria and Persephone had brought food to the cabin instead of taking Nico out.

They’d only been wading through the foot-high snow for about five minutes when a rather quick and mischievous pair of Hermes kids, about a couple years older than Nico, ran by, hit him in the face with a snowball, and pushed him over.

Blake jumped back in alarm when he saw Nico fall face-first onto the snowbank in front of them. He supposed that was the wrong thing to do. He was about to get angry at the Stoll brothers for their mischief when he realized that Nico needed help.

Blake knelt down to dig Nico out of the snow just as he heard a familiar voice call for him from nearby. “Hey Blake!” said Aaron, startling Blake. “Is Nico alright?”

Blake pulled Nico out of the snowbank and brushed the snow off of Nico’s coat with his hand. He knelt in front of the boy and said, “Are you alright?” It certainly didn’t look like it. He didn’t know what the Stoll brothers put in the snowballs, but there were scratches on Nico’s face from gods know what. Not to mention, Nico looked like he was still in shock from everything that had happened.

Nico was silent for a very long time before he started sniffling. Blake pulled his younger brother close and patted the boy’s back before Nico started crying. Nico didn’t want to cry. He was eight now! He was almost nine! He was a big boy. He was brave like Blake! Blake didn’t cry.

As much as Nico tried to tell himself that he wasn’t going to bawl, he couldn’t help the tears that started streaming down his face. Blake squeezed his shoulder. It was comforting, but Nico still felt like crying.

“Hey, Aaron,” said Blake, looking up at his boyfriend as the son of Apollo helped his little brother up a particularly large snowdrift. “I think Nico’s going to be alright. He’s just a bit banged up. He’s a big boy. He can handle it. Right, Nico?” he said. Nico nodded but buried his face deeper into Blake’s shoulder.

Aaron smiled and released his younger brother’s hand. Will looked at Blake. Blake looked at Will. There was something odd about this child. From what Aaron had told him, Will absolutely refused to leave the cabin if he wasn’t wearing Aaron’s laboratory coat.

Will, apparently, was adamant that he was going to become a doctor someday, and that he needed to start acting and dressing like one even at the young age of nine.

“Hi Will,” said Blake, chuckling inwardly as he felt Nico simply _freeze_ against his shoulder. Will waved his hand, the overly-large sleeve of the lab-coat swaying every which way as he did. “Think you can patch my little brother up?” Will nodded enthusiastically and gestured to the first-aid kit, which was half his height, that he carried in his other hand.

“Awesome!” said Blake, as he felt Nico’s arms tighten around him. He laughed as he tried to peel his younger brother off of him. Nico glared at him balefully before turning to look at Will, whose grin was about as bright as the winter sun.

Blake stood up and left Nico at Will’s mercy. He brushed the snow off of his pants as he walked over to where Aaron was standing. He pressed a quick kiss to his boyfriend’s lips and turned around to watch as Will flung open the lid of the first-aid kit.

Nico’s eyes widened immediately at the sight of the bottle of antiseptic that Will was using to soak a cotton ball. Nico ran away as soon as Will tried to come near him with the cotton ball. The two young boys ended up chasing each other for a few minutes, with Nico tripping every now and then, and ending up with more scratches than he’d started with.

By the time that Nico was too tired to keep running, he just sat down and glared at Will, as though daring the son of Apollo to try and treat him. Will didn’t look the slightest bit fazed. Will dabbed fresh antiseptic on Nico’s wounds after dragging the first-aid kit through the snow to where Nico was sitting.

Blake leaned against his boyfriend, and Aaron wrapped an arm around him. “They’re so cute, aren’t they?” said Aaron as Will placed little black band-aids with grey cartoon skulls on Nico’s wounds. Nico was starting to get progressively redder and redder with each band-aid.

“Yeah, they are,” said Blake with a wide grin as Will placed a totally-unnecessary sky-blue band-aid, with a sun printed in the middle, across the bridge of Nico’s nose.

Nico looked down at the damn thing, getting cross-eyed in the process. He looked up at Will and frowned as he scrunched up his nose. “What’s this for?” he said, pointing directly at the stylized sun on the band-aid.

Will tapped Nico’s nose. “Nothing,” said the son of Apollo, giggling as though it was a joke that only he knew. “It makes you look cute!” said Will, after a little while, much to Nico’s horror. The eight-year-old turned several shades of scarlet.

“I’m not cute!” shouted Nico, a few moments later. He pushed Will, who was laughing, over into the snow. “I’m not cute!” he shouted again, “I’m big, and strong, and brave, and manly like Blake!” he said, picking Will up by the loose fabric of the overly-large lab coat and shaking Will with it.

“Yes you are!” said Will, grinning when Nico stopped shaking him for a moment. He swooped in for a brief kiss to Nico’s nose. Blake hadn’t thought it was possible for Nico to get any redder, but Nico proved him wrong.

Will took off instantly. Nico was right on Will’s tail, shouting that he wasn’t cute, _at all_.

“I think they _liiiiiike_ each other,” said Aaron in a sing-song voice as he traced the side of Blake’s jaw with a single finger. Blake leaned into his boyfriend even more.

“I think they do,” said Blake, with wide grin. “Now, let’s get them inside before Nico murders Will.”

**Author's Note:**

> EE! MORE FLUFF. OH GODS THIS WAS FANTAAASTIC TO WRITE. THESE TWO DORKS ARE SO CUTE TOGETHER. EVEN IF THEY'RE TOO YOUNG TO KNOW WHAT LOVE IS. I CAN'T EVEN. OHMYGOD. I LOVE THEM. <3.
> 
> *calms down* Okay, alright. I'm on a fluff kick. ENJOY IT WHILE IT LASTS BECAUSE THE ANGST IS GOING TO COME BACK TWICE AS STRONG. Leave me a kudos if you liked the story. Leave me a comment if you like _ME_.
> 
> I'm opening my ask box to prompts, though I'm keeping them to only Solangelo/Jercy/Gay!Godsmut for now. :3. I can't promise when I'll get around to writing these prompts, but I'll try my best. <3\. Drop me a message over on [Malkuthe Highwind!](http://malkuthehighwind.tumblr.com/ask)


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